My personal journey with musk began in the 70’s with Jovan Musk for Men. As a teenager the promise, from the ads, that musk would unlock the passion of the opposite sex had me pleading for a bottle for my 14th birthday.
Thankfully I have outgrown the juvenile idea that fragrance contains the quality to melt women’s knees. My maturity level has also increased when it comes to musk.
As I have explored more and more fragrances I find that I return time and again to musk as one of my favorite notes. I have also found that while it might not have the effect promised, by the PR around it, I find musk to be one of the most sensual notes out there and when my wife wears one of our favorite musk fragrances it is my knees which get a little unstable.
The Mystery of Musk project’s goal, to have twelve natural perfumers create true botanical musk fragrances, also got my knees a-knockin’. An extra bit of excitement was that I was going to be exposed to some natural perfumers for whom I have not had the chance to try their compositions, through lack of time more than lack of interest.
One of the perfumers who I have been wanting to try for a while is JoAnne Bassett. When I received my package from her containing her submission for the project, she was also generous enough to send along a small sample of one of her other fragrances; Napoleon from the Royal Collection. That little bonus was very useful to me because it gave me some insight into a composition that Ms. Bassett was able to compose without a time limit. Napoleon was a wonderfully masculine fragrance and it showed much of what Ms. Bassett is capable of and effectively set the table for me to assess Sensual Embrace.
In the note accompanying my sample of Sensual Embrace Ms. Bassett mentions that she “wanted this musk perfume to throw a punch”. The open question, for Ms. Bassett and The Mystery of Musk project is, can that punch have the same impact when produced with natural ingredient? Over the course of this project that is what we are here to find out.
Ms. Bassett chose to create an eau de parfum and was looking to create something “sexy, vibrant, seductive, sensual, and alluring.” While I am sure that long ago Jovan Musk for Men advertising promised me the same thing, Ms. Bassett comes much closer to delivering on that promise.
Ms. Bassett chose a grouping of ingredients known for their strength to surround the two ingredients she used to create her musk accord, ambrette seed and angelica root. At the opening I get a strong citrus note courtesy of clementine. This is a juicy opening on my skin and it is in short order joined by a floral grouping. The floral notes arrive as rose and jasmine come to the fore. Tuberose and orange blossom appear adding to the indolic feel already present from the jasmine.
Because of the high quality Rose de Mai used, where other floral notes would shrink under this indolic assault, the Rose de Mai stands up and the spicy quality of the rose predominates.
It is now time for the musk to appear and it arrives as a sultry whisper. The ambrette seed and angelica root can be picked out if one concentrates on it.
Instead I let it seductively entice me closer with a come hither look. As I got closer amber, sandalwood and patchouli join the musk accord and formed the base for it to rest upon. The musk phase in Sensual Embrace lasts for a short period but in combination with the stronger notes in the base is always present if not quite the leader of the pack.
Sensual Embrace has average longevity and modest sillage, befitting an eau de parfum concentration.
In Sensual Embrace Ms. Bassett chose to have her musk accord behave more like a promise of delights to come, and after the musk has enticed you in, the remains of Sensual Embrace fulfill that promise.
Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by JoAnne Bassett Perfumes for The Mystery of Musk project.
-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor
Editor's Note: Last Month the Los Angeles County Musuem of Art had an exhibition entitled the 'Sensual Art of Jean Pierre Renoir'. When I read an article about the exhibit, the ledeline was "LACM embraces the Sensual Side of Renoir"… JoAnne it was meant to be.